Telangana sets road safety fund rules for district spending and oversight
The Indian state has directed districts to plan road safety work and track spending, with state oversight and mandatory audits of fund accounts.
Telangana has issued guidelines for managing road safety funds across the Indian state, with new accounting and district planning requirements intended to improve how the money is used, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said on 17 October, according to The Hindu. Deccan Chronicle reported that the government order carrying the guidelines, G.O. Ms. No. 48, was dated 12 October.
The rules set out where road safety cess revenue will go, who will oversee it and what district officials must do. The Hindu reported that the cess collected under the Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2026, will be credited to the Telangana Road Safety (Non-Lapsable) Fund. The announcement sets requirements for managing the money; it does not establish that districts have already carried them out.
How Telangana will oversee the road safety fund
The State Road Safety Council will administer and manage the fund, The Hindu and Deccan Chronicle reported. The Chief Minister chairs the council and the Transport Minister serves as vice-chairperson. Prabhakar said the order was issued in accordance with guidelines from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Online accounting will be extended to every district to track receipts and expenditure. Accounts at both state and district level will be subject to mandatory audits by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Details will also be uploaded to the Union Ministry's portal for access by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, according to The Hindu.
What district officials must do
District Collectors have been directed to activate District Road Safety Committees immediately and convene them every month. They must appoint dedicated road safety coordinators and submit district plans, giving local officials a defined role in deciding and tracking road safety measures.
Police, health, roads and buildings, and education departments, along with civic bodies, have been asked to appoint nodal officers to coordinate that work. The Hindu reported that agencies including the Telangana Traffic Management, Road and Rail Safety Bureau, the National Highways Authority of India and 108 emergency services must submit quarterly reports on action taken to the Lead Agency for Road Safety.
Prabhakar said the office of the Additional Director General of Police for Road Safety has also been placed under the State Road Safety Council's purview. The changes are intended to improve coordination among departments involved in road safety, alongside closer monitoring of how the fund is spent.
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Sources and context
- Telangana issues guidelines for management of road safety fundsThe Hindu
- Telangana Issues Guidelines on Road Safety FundsDeccan Chronicle
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.